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I wanted to post an update on my health issues and dh’s job situation. My struggles with my rash continue and I am functioning in survival mode. Thanks to the many prayers I am still functioning (to the amazement of those around me) in spite of little sleep and constant itching. The Benadryl at night is no longer keeping me asleep. It helps me fall asleep but I still awaken from the insane itching. I have bruises all over from unconsciously itching at night – I even wear gloves to bed but that hasn’t helped much. I keep poor dh awake with my itching L Tomorrow morning I have my annual exam and mammogram that I am dreading. I don’t usually have a problem but just the thought of explaining this bizarre autoimmune disorder and having to go through the exam while my skin is a complete mess is not something I look forward to. Please pray for calmness to get through it. Dh’s company is definitely being bought out. The deal will be signed this Friday. Next week he will find out how long he has to wrap things up here and details about severance and health insurance. He talked to one of the ladies working on the insurance stuff and he was told that we’d have to pay about $1200 a month for COBRA coverage for our family. Ugh! Would you pray for dh as he works on organizing all the research he has done in order to get it ready to hand over. He said it felt weird to see his work just being passed on. He has sent out a few resumes and is waiting to hear back. Please pray for ds who has to see me struggle with this disorder. He recently asked me if this would recur every 6 years for the rest of my life. I told him that I was praying that it wouldn’t. The other day we were reviewing Greek vocabulary (because mom’s brain can’t handle moving onto a new lesson!) and he was quizzing me when I stalled on a word. He loves to give me hints for Greek/Latin vocab because he knows this stuff better than I do…so he starts scratching his arms while I’m thinking…I know we didn’t learn the Greek word for rash. Finally, he says “Mom, it’s ‘I suffer’â€â€¦for the word ‘pasko.’ It was all I could do to not burst into tears. I guess I won't forget that Greek word any time soon. The sweet guy has seen me deal with all kinds of health issues over the past several years. Thanks for reading this long message and for praying for me and my family. I am deeply grateful for the prayers. VH

Danestress, I got your private message. Thanks for asking about me. I'm posting here so my other boardie friends can see this too. Nothing new to report. Still struggling like crazy with this rash. I cried myself to sleep a couple of times this week. Funny thing is that I have a pretty high pain tolerance and would be able to put up with pain vs the sheer aggravation of scratching my skin raw. I told dh this week that I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle (and I have several more months of this). I had to keep myself from spiraling into the pit of despair. Reading the Psalms was a great help. Dh has sent out a few resumes. Hasn't heard much yet. He got a call from a couple of recruiters but mostly for stuff that he is not quite trained for. He still doesn't know how much longer he has to wrap things up here. So we are sort of living in limbo and trusting God to open up options at the right time. Please continue to pray for me. Thanks so much. P.S. Glad you mentioned your old board name. I was wondering if you came over to the new boards. So glad you did.

my dear friend, you may call me whatever you want except Ms. Itchy :) Thank you for praying. It's the faithful prayers of my dear friends and my family that is helping me get through each day. It's a wonderful thing that His mercies are new every morning!

Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts. I was gone all afternoon (ds' violin lessons are an hour away) and came back to read your heart-warming messages. I feel truly blessed.

I need prayers to get me through this difficult time. I have a weird autoimmune disorder that manifests itself in a rash every 6 years. Each cycle of the rash lasts about 18 months during which life is pure torture for about 6-9 months. There is no known cause or cure for this. Anyway, the current cycle started at the end of September and I can say that the ugly 6-9 month period started in Jan so I have one month down, yay! The only way to describe what I have is that it is like having poison ivy or chiggers for 6-9 months. I have mind numbingly intense itching. I have been taking Benadryl at night to knock me out but at this point the itching is so severe that I wake up from it despite the Benadryl. This is my 5th episode and for the first couple of times I took steroids which maybe shortened a cycle by two months but I developed a reaction to the steroids. So since then I have just let it run its course. I also got tired of having dermatologists declare me “Case of the Year.†I need your prayers for grace and mercy and patience to handle the itching. It takes all my energy to not scratch my skin raw. We are still plowing through with school but I am exhausted at the end of the day. Being unable to get a decent night’s sleep doesn’t help J Our family also needs prayer because dh found out last week that the company he works for is being bought out and the new buyer has no plans to hire any of the employees of dh’s company. Dh’s work is pretty specialized so jobs in his field are not easy to come by. Please pray for wisdom as we consider what the next step will be. We have known about the possibility of this happening for a while but dh was hoping his company would find a partner. They didn’t so the owners of the company decided to sell. We don’t know how much time dh has to wrap things up here so things are still up in the air. I would greatly appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much.

Ds (just turned 10) is still young. I purchased Henle and was all set to work through it with the MP guide but the small print just wasn't very appealing. Ds and I looked at the LP samples and we both agreed that it would be a good change. The first few chapters were a review but my rusty brain needed the review so we are plodding along. I purchased the workbooks and ds really enjoys having me work along side him and tries to compete for a higher score. I don't think LP2 has workbooks so that is something to consider. If LC has worked well for you, Henle would be a good transition. I was just too chicken to jump right into it.

:D

Good to see you too. Sorry about the name change. Given our moving history I didn't want to have MN in the user name. From reading the FAQ it seemed like it would be best to pick a name and stick with it. I was going to use VeeH since the board won't accept just VH but my family urged me to come up with something new. Given my addiction to tea I decided to go with TeaTotaler. It is a little strange to have a different name because I've always been VH in (insert state).

I hear you about the change. I think those of us who didn't frequent other boards with this format will need some time to adjust. So what's another change in your life right now??;)

I just joined the new boards today and I agree with what you said. BTW, good to see you back here. Take care.

Thank you for the welcome. Waving back :-)

Another vote for E.

This is my first reply on these boards. Hope it shows up in the right place.

It takes time for this old dog to learn new tricks:) Not sure why it takes over a minute for each new thread to load even though I have high speed access...hmmm. Just wanted to say hello!